The City of Westminster has committed significant resources to bringing fiber to our community. This ambitious endeavor has distinguished Westminster as the first City fiber in the Mid-Atlantic region. Every city resident and business owner can enjoy a competitive local marketplace for broadband services and the fastest internet on the planet.
In addition to being a leader in providing access to ultra-high speed internet services, the City of Westminster will use the WFN to drive local innovation and entrepreneurship, elevating our community to a premier technology hub in the Mid-Atlantic.
Partnering with Ting, Inc., Westminster has in place a long term partnership in realizing the Silicon Main Street goal.
What is Fiber, and why is it important?
Fiber-optic internet, commonly called fiber internet or simply “fiber,” is a broadband connection that can reach speeds of up to 1000 Megabits per second (Mbps) with low lag time. The technology uses fiber-optic cable, which amazingly can send data as fast as about 70% the speed of light. In addition, fiber-optic cables are not as susceptible to severe weather conditions as other types of traditional cables, which helps minimize outages. It also resists electrical interference effectively.
The fiber-optic cables are made up of bundles of thousands of tiny glass strands or fibers. Each fiber is extremely tiny — almost as thin as a strand of human hair. The optical fibers transmit light, which carries data the length of the cable at incredibly high speeds.
By taking advantage of a phenomenon called “total internal reflection,” light can move through these fibers very quickly. Using these fibers for data transmission leads to super-fast, powerful fiber internet networks that have much higher bandwidth and lower latency than other methods of transmitting data.
How is fiber-optic technology better for surfing the internet? The two main benefits are speed (including future speed potential) and reliability.
Fiber-optic cables have an enormous bandwidth capacity. Most commercial fiber connections can carry signals above 10 Gbps, while residential fiber internet connections reach speeds up to 1000 Mbps Whether you want fiber internet for at-home use or for your office, fiber internet provides high performance for both uploading and downloading — which is many times faster than many cable internet services and any DSL connection.
Powered by Ting
The City needed a partner in the private sector to turn that “dark fiber” into an affordable, usable Internet service for our communities homes and businesses. Someone with experience building on a third-party network. Someone who could provide a platform for other service providers to build on. Someone who would answer the phone when customers call and stop at nothing to solve their problems. Westminster found that someone…. Ting!
The City of Westminster has partnered with Ting. to provide the power to light the information highway in our community. With the company’s great customer service history and reliability, it was the smart choice.
Westminster Fiber Gallery
